


You're Brilliant!

by Lydia_E_Nheers



Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: A letter from Arthur to you, Arthur just wants to help, Arthur knows people, Fluff, Gen, So much ugly in the world
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2016-11-30
Packaged: 2018-09-03 04:47:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8697139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lydia_E_Nheers/pseuds/Lydia_E_Nheers
Summary: Hullo! I'm Arthur! I wrote a letter to you! It's about being happy, and the fact that you're brilliant! I hope you like it! 
Love, Arthur!





	

**Author's Note:**

> Non beta'd nor Britpicked. Also, I've never written anything in the first person! Especially from Arthur's POV!!! I hope you like it!

Hullo! I'm Arthur Shappey. Well, I suppose you already knew that. You are reading this, after all. But maybe you don't know and just stumbled over this by accident. So maybe I should introduce myself anyway. I'll start again. Hullo! My name is Arthur Gordon Shappey. I'm really, really glad you found this.

You see, a while ago, I was sitting in the aeroplane with Skip and Douglas when we were talking...oh. Right. If you didn't already know, I work for the aeroplane charter firm my mum owns. It's called MJN. Dunno what it stands for. My mum got the plane, (we call it Gertie. I'm not sure why. Maybe because it sounds like a name an aeroplane might have) from my dad when they divorced. I don't like to talk about my dad much, but I don't see him often, so that's okay. 

Anyway, Skip's real name is Martin Crieff. He's brilliant. He is a really, really good pilot, really! Despite what others might think. He's the Skipper, which means he's the captain. He's a brilliant captain! He knows everything about flying aeroplanes. think he sort of...doubts himself sometimes. He shouldn't though. I would trust Skip with my life. I sort of see him like a big brother. I think having a big brother would be brilliant! He would teach me things and play games with me and all sort of things. And that's sort of what Skip does. We play games on the plane all the time! I never win, but sometimes I like to listen to Martin playing with Douglas. 

So Douglas is the first officer. Which is really weird, because if I'm being honest, Douglas is a little bit better of a pilot than Martin is. (Don't tell Skip that though. Martin already knows that and it hurts his feelings when people say it.) But he is the first officer, and he is just brilliant! He's really, really clever. He'll always make everything all right. If anything bad happens, Douglas will sort it out. Douglas can do anything in the world. He can fix anything. 

Sometimes I wish Douglas could be my dad. He's really patient with me. I know he has a daughter of his own. I'm sort of jealous. But I have mum, so that's okay. 

Sometimes...I think Douglas gets sad though. He won't ever tell us that, but I think he does. Especially when people think he's the captain and Martin has to tell them he's not. Douglas' eyes get a little sad for a second and his mouth does this funny twisting thing. Only for a second though. Then he smiles and everything's all right. 

So anyway, I was sitting in the plane with them and we were talking about happiness.  The other chaps didn't believe that I was really quite often, completely happy. 

Douglas said I was just cheery, but that's not it. Because there are days when I don't feel completely cheerful. But I'm still happy. I'm happy because I have everything I want. I get to go up in the plane and fly all over the place. I have a mum and a brilliant dog named Snoopadoop who I know love me very much. I have friends like Martin and Douglas and now this new chap called Herc. I really like Herc. (I think he fancies my mum, and she fancies him back which is brilliant.) He reminds me a bit of Douglas, and that's amazing! Two people like Douglas in my life is brilliant! I am so incredibly lucky! 

And on top of all that, I have brilliant things like apple tossing, and warm baths and occasionally, a girlfriend or a boyfriend and that is also brilliant. 

So here I am now. I've been thinking about that day a whole lot lately. Douglas said that no one is really happy and that makes me sad. I want everyone to be happy. The telly has been saying that there's a lot of unhappy people in the world and people doing really awful things. So I wanted to maybe share this with you and maybe make you happy too. I really hope I do. So here's a letter I wrote to you. I hope you like it. 

Dear You,

Y ou're brilliant! Yes. You! You right there! Sitting at home, or at work...or wherever you may read this. You! You're amazing! Because you got up and did all the boring and hard things that you have to do everyday. Maybe you don't like your job, or maybe it's hard. Maybe there's maths. Maybe you have a hard family to get on with. (My dad...he's...he is a shout-y man. He lives in Australia now, and I don't miss him. So I can understand if you have a parent you don't get on with) Maybe you're sick, or disabled, or maybe you're really, really unhappy. I don't really know. But I do know this.

You are brilliant. You do great things every day! Even if that's just getting on with things. That can be really, really hard. Sometimes it feels like climbing a mountain just to do really easy things like sums or learning new things. Sometimes on bad days, it feels like that just getting up. So if you can do that, you're amazing. 

You're funny and bright and special. You really are. You may not think it, but I know it's true. Because you're a person, and people are great! 

Here's a bit of advice I learnt. Don't be afraid of asking for help when you need it. Skipper always gets sad when he can't do everything by himself, but Douglas helps and everything is alright again in the end.

It just goes to show that you can't do everything by yourself. Not all the time. Sometimes you need to ask for help. And that's okay! I do too sometimes! All the time really. Whenever I don't know something, I ask mum or Martin or Douglas and they help. 

And even _Douglas_ has to ask for help! One time, he wanted to move a fire engine out of the way of the aeroplane, and he needed like twelve guys to help him there!

And another time, we had to take this verbal exam thing in Ipswich, and his question was the one Martin had answered earlier in the car when they were talking about! See, Martin doesn't think he's good at things sometimes. But I think that Douglas wouldn't have known the answer to that question without Skip. Because Skip is really, really good at knowing the answers to questions about flying aeroplanes. There's a really big book about all the fiddly bits and stuff when flying, and Martin memorized the entire thing! That's incredible! He's brilliant at it, and that's why he's the best captain I've ever had!

And that's what I mean about asking for help! No one knows everything. Someone can help you with something and you can help someone else with something else! That's brilliant! Everyone has stuff they're good at. It's all a matter of figuring it out. 

Maybe you're good at reading. Or writing. Or maths! (I am awful at maths so if you want to help me with maths, that'd be great!) Maybe you're good at singing! Or cheering people up. Maybe you're good at typing. Or sailing. Or cooking. Maybe you're a really good friend. Or maybe you are good at your job. Or sport. Or watching films with. (Mum always fidgets and gets bored and Skip always falls asleep.) 

You're brilliant at something! Maybe many things, or maybe just one. Either way, it's all right! You're brilliant just the way you are. 

Also, being happy isn't always being cheerful. Like I said earlier. Because being cheerful is like having a fizzy drink. It's only fizzy for a little bit, then it goes away. You can't always be cheerful forever. But being happy, really happy is like...knowing there are millions of really tiny, good things in the world and wanting to experience them all. And knowing when they're happening, and appreciating them when they do.

Like when you're outside and there's a breeze across your cheek. Or when you get into the bath and it's the perfect temperature. Or when you make a bag of popcorn, and manage to get it out before any kernels burn. Or when you toss an apple from hand to hand. Or when you're having a cuddle with someone you fancy. Or even kissing or having sex with them. Or just walking along hand in hand. Or having a lie-in on Sunday morning with tea and toast in bed. 

See? There's loads of those tiny little moments, and personally, I think, happiness is the ability to see those tiny moments and appreciate them. At least, that's why I'm happy. Even on days when the weather is cold and grey and my dad's called about getting Gertie back. I know that there'll be another bath moment later, and that makes me happy. 

Anyway, I hope you find this letter and read it. And I hope it makes you smile. Because I think that smiling is something that is rather underrated. It's a nice feeling. Like a hug. So if I could make you smile with this, that'd be great! 

Please remember what I've told you. You are brilliant. Exactly how you are. And I'd really like to be your friend. You can't have too many friends! 

I need to go now. My mum's calling me to leave for our flight. I hope you enjoyed this. 

Love, Arthur Shappey. 

PS: You're brilliant!!!!!


End file.
